The Beatles built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over a three-year period from 1960, with Stuart Sutcliffe initially serving as bass player. The core of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison went through a succession of drummers, including Pete Best, before asking Starr to join them. Manager Brian Epstein moulded them into a professional act, and producer George Martin guided and developed their recordings, greatly expanding their popularity in the United Kingdom after their first hit, "Love Me Do",
in late 1962. They acquired the nickname "the Fab Four" as Beatlemania
grew in Britain the next year, and by early 1964 became international
stars, leading the "British Invasion"
of the United States pop market. From 1965 onwards, the Beatles
produced increasingly innovative recordings, including the albums Rubber Soul (1965), Revolver (1966), Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), The Beatles (commonly known as the White Album, 1968) and Abbey Road (1969). After their break-up
in 1970, they each enjoyed successful musical careers of varying
lengths. McCartney and Starr, the surviving members, remain musically
active. Lennon was shot and killed in December 1980, and Harrison died of lung cancer in November 2001.